is a Japanese

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

of the Liberal Democratic Party. He is a member of the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

in the Diet, or national legislature, and the

Minister of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...

. He served as the

Minister of Defense A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...

from 2 October 2018 to 11 September 2019.

Early life

A native of

Beppu, Ōita file:Beppu City Hall.jpg, 270px, Beppu City Hall is a city in Ōita Prefecture on the island of Kyushu, Japan. As of November 30, 2023, the city had a population of 113,045 in 62,702 households, and a population density of 900 persons per km2. ...

, Takeshi Iwaya graduated from the School of Political Science and Economics at

Waseda University Waseda University (Japanese: ), abbreviated as or , is a private university, private research university in Shinjuku, Tokyo. Founded in 1882 as the Tōkyō Professional School by Ōkuma Shigenobu, the fifth Prime Minister of Japan, prime ministe ...

Political career

Iwaya was elected to the assembly of Ōita Prefecture in 1987 (serving for one term), and to the House of Representatives for the first time in 1990 as an independent. After losing his seat in 1993, he ran unsuccessfully for the house in 1996 but was re-elected in 2000. Iwaya has served as State Minister of Foreign Affairs in the First Abe Cabinet and as Minister of Defense in the Fourth Abe Cabinet. Iwaya was named to the position of

in September 2024.

Family

Takeshi Iwaya is the son of Kei Iwaya, a former member of the assembly of

Ōita Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Ōita Prefecture has a population of 1,081,646 (1 February 2025) and has a geographic area of 6,340 km2 (2,448 sq mi). Ōita Prefecture borders Fukuoka Prefecture to the northwest, K ...

References

External links